1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of thermometers, and more particularly to the field of thermometers with mechanical selector for types of temperature scale conversion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic thermometers generally offer a great number of advantages over conventional glass and mercury thermometers for use in the health care field. Among the advantages of electronic thermometers are the elimination of sterilization procedures for glass thermometers, made possible by the use of disposable covers; elimination of the possibility of broken glass if a thermometer is dropped; a digital temperature display to eliminate temperature reading errors; and with proper circuit design and calibration, higher accuracy and resolution is possible with accurate measurement and display of tenths of a degree Fahrenheit being easily attainable.
Such electronic thermometers typically use a chemical battery as a power supply. However, the electronic thermometers are generally idle for a long time since patients only use the electronic thermometers while they are sick or feel uncomfortable. Thus such electronic thermometers employing a chemical battery as a power supply are not environmentally friendly.
The present inventor proposed to employ a thermometer without battery and switch button to solve this problem in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/819,586. However, The type(s) of temperature scale, such as Fahrenheit scale or Celsius scale displayed, may be predetermined by the designer, or it may be selected by the user. Thus, there is a need to provide a new design of thermometer with a mechanical selector for types of temperature scale conversion.